Environmental Law

My Trip to Marcellus Shale Country in Search of Brownfields

By Joel Bolstein

Last week, I went in search of brownfield properties in Marcellus Shale country.   I started in Williamsport, then drove through Mansfield, Troy, Towanda and Wyalusing.  It was an enlightening trip, including visits with Nels Taber, Ted Loy and Dan Vilello in DEP's NC regional office and with Brian Driscoll at the Central Bradford Progress Authority.   Here are my observations:

o  Williamsport ain't what it was when I was working at PADEP back in the middle 1990s.  Back then, the biggest draw in town was the Little League World series.  Now, it's a bustling metropolis with roads blocked off by construction for new hotels, banks and fast food places.  Housing is so  scarce that one temporary worker I met with said he was paying $1,700 a month to rent a room in a house with two college kids.  Back in the middle 1990s, that same room probably would go for $300.  I drove past one of the larger industrial parks in Williamsport and it looked like no vacancies.  That's pretty amazing.    

o I visited a new facility in Williamsport for the treatment of frac water.  It was almost fully constructed and they expect no problem finding customers.  I was told that frac water wasn't being treated because temperatures had been sub-freezing for so long that even the frac ponds had frozen solid.  Who knew?

o  Nels Taber is the regional director stationed at ground zero of the Marcellus Shale boom, and he is as knowledgeable as they come regarding how Marcellus development is changing the local economy.   Having been regional counsel in that office, he also understands the need for the regional office to use all of the tools it has available to encourage brownfield redevelopment as part of the development of the Marcellus Shale.  That means encouraging the building of ancillary facilities, like warehouses needed to store pipes and other building materials for the drilling industry, on brownfield sites where possible.      

o  I expected to see gas drilling rigs dotting the landscape but I could only see two on the drive from Williamsport to Towanda, which is about 70 miles.    I'm told many of them are behind hills and trees, so maybe they were there and just hidden from view.  On the other hand, the impression I had was there is enormous territory for the gas companies to cover and it's going to be a long time before this boom ends.

o  While I didn't see a lot of drill rigs from the road, I saw lots of truck traffic, including tankers carrying water and wastewater,  and trucks carrying dirt, drill cuttings, and piping materials.  There were back-ups at some of the local intersections where it's a one lane road coming from either direction.

o  I saw new hotels and motels being constructed to address the influx of workers.

o  I found Brian Driscoll at the Central Bradford Progress Authority (which is the local economic development agency for Bradford and Susquehanna Counties) to be as knowledgeable about brownfield redevelopment as anyone in Southeast, PA.  He had worked on a number of Act 2 projects and knew how to get Act 2 funding.  Given that these are very rural counties, the brownfields aren't as plentiful as they are in Southeast, PA.  Nevertheless, I see the development of the Marcellus Shale as occurring in phases.  The first phase involved the gas companies rushing in to sign leases, plant their flags, and start drilling with out-of-state labor.  The second phase (which I think we are in now) involves the development of all of the other ancillary facilities and amenities needed to address the needs of the local workers and the host communities, such as new housing, warehouses, office buildings, shopping centers, drugstores, banks and restaurants.   Hopefully, some of that development can and will occur on the brownfield sites that exist in the area.   I told Brian that I hoped to see more of him and that I would assist in any way he needed to try to get that job done. 

Full post as published by PA Brownfields Environmental Law on February 11, 2011 (boomark / email).